“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” 

I met this pair of sisters at the playground and they were so sporting in posing for shots. They weren't shy at all and didn't mind me taking photos of them! Haha so glad when I meet such cute kids like them. Some kids are really hostile and unfriendly...


 My dad suggested I try panning! Quite successful I feel, just that her hands and arms are awkward.




Super loving the 1.8 that gives such nice blurry effects!


Active active kid who kept on climbing and running everywhere!



After a while of shooting, I went over and talked to them asking them how old they were and all. Turns out they couldn't speak English as they weren't locals.After some broken English and loads of hand gestures, I figured out that they were on holiday from Bangladesh(they kept saying Bangladesh) and were visiting someone, not sure whom haha.







Awwww this kid is super adorable! I asked his cousin for his email to send him the photos, but I lost it.... shucks.... oops too bad, hope they see this and contact me!






This little girl acting all grown up with her stroller. I don't know why, but she ran back crying to her mother... Maybe she was shy cos I took the photo? I swear I didn't scare her or anything of that sort.


So lucky that there happened to be bars to help frame these photos!






The 2 lovely sisters






Glowing with happiness. When can I ever feel that way again?



Tips on shooting children (which also works for portraiture):

1. always always SMILE :)

If you don't smile, you can't get close to the kid because they will most probably run away from you. And of course, don't talk about getting a good shot

2. use a larger aperture (smaller f-stop number) to get a blurry background

I personally feel that the essence of shooting children in active is the expressions on their faces. In order to capture those raw emotions better, it would be better to not let the background distract you from the focal point. 

3. get their guardian/parent email address so that you can send them the photos

It's always nice that your photos are appreciated by others, and who else would do that better than their own parents/family members? 

4. Use a faster shutter speed

Children are active and move really fast. You want to get a sharp, clear shot and not one that's blurry (unless done on purpose?).

5. Get to know your subjects and put a story behind your photos

To me, I truly value these interactions with the subjects in my photos, it's interesting to get to know a stranger, albeit on a superficial basis. Get to know them and ask them questions, and put a story to your photo!

Hope you like this series!
Gracia